The company, which had last year proposed a VRS that was dropped, now aims to reduce total headcount by around 600, mainly at the plants at Belur in West Bengal, Alupuram in Kerala and Belgaum in Karnataka.

A senior Indal official said the VRS should not be seen as an outright downsizing. "Rather, it has been our policy to redeploy additional staff after retraining. And even after that if there is a surplus staff, the company offers a VRS," he said.

Indal has a total of around 7200 people spread over its 13 locations in India. It has identified as surplus about 150 people at its Belgaum plant, 300 at Belur -- the same as last year's target -- and 100 at Alupuram."The company will also offer the scheme at the management level on a very selective basis -- mainly for those on the verge of retirement or those having problemsrelocating," the official said.

Indal has been having a difficult time reviving the Belgaum unit, where it has been trying to get a private supplier of power to run the smelters."The additional labour at the smelting units has been rendered surplus and the company has no alternative but to offer a VRS package," the official said.

At the Alupuram plant, which has been chronically affected by the acute power shortages in Kerala, smelting activities have practically halted."Much depends on the state government's policy on power rates which at the moment have become quite prohibitive. The smelter, which has a capacity of 20,000 tonnes, is operating at 11,000 tonnes with inadequate power," he said.The official said the next round of tariff changes is expected in February-March next year, and any increase will pose serious problems.

At the Belur sheet mill near Calcutta, nearly 300 people have become surplus following the installation of modern cold rolling and slitting facilities and a change in workpractices, he said.

Indal's units at Taloja, Kalwa, Hirakud and Muri are adequately manned but there has been some redeployment following capacity increases.

The latest VRS is on a new scale according to industry standards. Although, the company is yet to work out its revenue outgo, it is believed that it will have to shell out around Rs 15 crore for the package. In 1993, Indal had spent Rs 8 crore on a VRS that was accepted by 473 people.

Sital De, general secretary of the Co-ordination Committee of Indal's Unions, said: "I agree with the fact that modern work systems and power problems have rendered surplus staff at few locations. A revised VRS package is a good option. But the management could also explore certain safer options like multiscaling at various divisions and do away with additional contract labour". Indal offered its first VRS in 1987, in a very small effort. "The VRS was offered at the Hirakud unit in Orissa, and about 76 employees opted for it," the official said.

The first majoreffort was in 1993, when the company offered additional benefits including a safety net. But even this VRS was restricted locationwise, being applicable mainly at Belgaum, where power rates had increased by over 40 per cent and made it difficult to run the smelters throughout the year.